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A space startup in China almost pulled off a vertical landing test of its prototype rocket, but the launch vehicle experienced an anomaly at the very last moment, causing it to crash onto the landing pad and erupt in flames.
Deep Blue Aerospace launched its Nebula-1 rocket for its first high-altitude recovery test flight on Sunday, and attempted to land it back at the Ejin Banner Spaceport in Inner Mongolia. The rocket lifted off to an altitude of around 3 miles (5 kilometers) above the ground but it fumbled the landing, leading the company to declare the test mission as “not completely successful,” according to a statement by Deep Blue Aerospace.
A drone captured the test flight in vivid detail, resulting in a cinematic, two-minute video filled with incredible views of the launch. The video sadly ends with Nebula-1 hitting the landing pad and going up in flames, but even its failure looks pretty cool, so it wasn’t a total loss. The dramatic video brings to mind SpaceX’s early attempts to test the reusability of its rockets, in which even explosions were seen as partial victories. It seems Deep Blue Aerospace may be drawing from SpaceX’s playbook, using these fiery displays for publicity while taking a different path than what we typically see from Chinese space companies.
During descent, the rocket misjudged its landing altitude, leading to an early engine shutdown. Still vertically oriented, it slammed into the landing site, triggering a fiery explosion. “There are a total of 11 major test verification tasks,” Deep Blue Aerospace wrote in its statement. “In this flight test, 10 of them were successfully completed and 1 was not completed.”
Deep Blue Aerospace is one of several Chinese rocket startups aiming to launch and recover their vehicles in an effort to match SpaceX’s success with its reusable, two-stage Falcon 9 rocket. Earlier this year, Chinese startup Landscape pulled off its first flight test of a reusable first stage prototype. The rocket reached an altitude of around 1,000 feet (350 meters) and landed within about 7 feet (2.4 meters) of its designated touchdown spot.
The aftermath of the damage caused by the failed landing attempt. Credit: Deep Blue Aerospace Nebula-1 is 11 feet wide (3.35 meters), slightly smaller than the Falcon 9 rocket, which measures 12 feet in diameter. Once certified, the rocket should be capable of carrying 4,400 pounds (2,000 kilograms) to low Earth orbit, and an upscaled version could lift 17,000 pounds (8,000 kilograms). SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket can carry about 55,000 pounds (25 metric tons) to low Earth orbit, and its Falcon Heavy rocket has a payload capacity of around 141,000 pounds (64 metric tons).
The rocket industry in China has been picking up steam after the Chinese government allowed investments to flow into spaceflight companies rather than continue to let state-owned enterprises dominate the field. Companies like Deep Blue Aerospace are wasting no time in their attempts to develop rocket reusability, with plans to make another attempt at a recovery test flight of Nebula-1 in November.
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